Iraq: Detainees

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  when  (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department were informed of the allegations made by the International Committee of the Red Cross about abuses by United States forces at Abu Ghraib prison in its report of February 2004; [Official Report, 11 December 2008, Vol. 485, c. 5MC.]
	(2)  whether Ministers in his Department were informed by officials of  (a) allegations concerning the treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib and  (b) the interim report of the International Committee of the Red Cross of February 2004 on the treatment of prisoners by coalition forces in Iraq.

John Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my right hon. Friend the then Defence Secretary on 27 May 2004, to the then hon. Member for Cheadle (Mrs. Calton),  Official Report, column 1843, and the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames),  Official Report, column 1845W, and by my right hon. Friend the then Foreign Secretary to the right hon. and learned Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram) on 16 June 2004,  Official Report, column 992W.
	An advance copy of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) report "The Treatment by the Coalition Forces of Prisoners of War and Other Protected Persons by the Geneva Convention in Iraq during Arrest, Internment and Interrogation", dated 10 February 2004, was received by the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and, on 12 February, copies were passed to the offices of the UK Special Representative and the Senior British Military Representative in Iraq (SBMR-I). SBMR-I passed a copy to Headquarters Multi-National Division (South East) in Iraq on 13 February, to the Permanent Joint Headquarters in the UK on 16 February, and posted a copy to the Ministry of Defence in London that arrived on 27 February.
	On 26 February 2004, the ICRC formally presented the report to Ambassador Bremer as Head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq at a meeting attended by an official from the Office of the UK Special Representative. The proceeds of this meeting were reported by telegram to the FCO in London within 24 hours.
	In their meeting on 18 March 2004, the President of the ICRC, Dr. Kellenberger, did mention briefly to my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Rammell) that the February ICRC report contained allegations concerning treatment of detainees by forces other than UK forces, although naturally the part of their discussion which covered detainees in Iraq focused on specific allegations against UK forces. The Minister discussed the concerns raised by Dr. Kellenberger with officials on his return to London. Officials had already received assurances that UK investigations were under way into allegations of abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison. Defence Ministers became aware of the specific allegations against UK forces contained in the ICRC report when they read the report over the weekend of 8-9 March 2004. A copy had been passed by officials to the Defence Secretary's office on 7 May 2004.
	The ICRC report summarises a series of working papers handed over to coalition forces based on observations and interviews during the 29 visits the ICRC conducted in 14 places of detention throughout Iraq between 31 March and 24 October 2003. Ministers had been aware of those issues relating to UK forces for five months before they were aware of the report itself. Allegations of abuse are taken very seriously and, by the time the ICRC report was published, the Royal Military Police were already engaged on several investigations into specific alleged incidents of abuse by UK forces.

Roads: Closures

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost was to his Department of the objections to the stopping up order at the highway between the Knapp and Castle Street, Dursley resulting in an enquiry having to be held.

Paul Clark: The Stopping Up Order between The Knapp and Castle street, Dursley did not result in a Public Inquiry being held.
	The Order was made by the Secretary of State on 5 November 2008 following a sole objection which was not made by a local authority or statutory utility supplier. The Secretary of State was satisfied that because of the special circumstances of the case, the holding of a Public Inquiry was unnecessary (Town and Country Planning Act 1990 S252 (5) refers). The Secretary of State subsequently took a decision to make the Order following the consideration of the written representations of the objector and the applicant. A copy of the decision letter was copied to the relevant parties on 5 November 2008.
	No records of costs incurred by the Department are held in connection with the processing of an application for a Stopping Up Order, including for those which attract objections and which are dealt with either through a written representations procedure or by the holding of a Public Local Inquiry.

Departmental Manpower

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  how many  (a) special advisers and  (b) press officers were employed by his Department in each year from 1997-98 to 2007-08; and at what cost in each of those years;
	(2)  how many  (a) special advisers and  (b) press officers have been employed by the Prime Minister's Office in each year since 1997-98; and at what cost in each year.

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent on employing press and communications officers in  (a) his Department,  (b) its non-departmental public bodies and  (c) its agencies in each of the last three years.

Tom Watson: The Prime Minister's Office forms part of the Cabinet Office.
	The Prime Minister publishes on annual basis, a list of the numbers and cost of special advisers. Information for 2007-08 was published on 22 July 2008,  Official Report, columns 99-101WS.
	Regarding the number and cost of press officers I refer hon. Members to the answers that were given on 8 September 2004,  Official Report, column 1245W; 10 March 2006,  Official Report, column 1837W; 6 February 2006,  Official Report, column 849W and 8 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1570W. The cost to the Department of press officers for 2006-07 and 2007-08 were:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2006-07 669,780 
			 2007-08 959,614